Lecture Topics

Start Your Digging in 1940 - new 2015Examines the 1940 Census for information and clues. Learn how to find them. Use them with: other records, directories, and maps; and to help find living people.

No Birth Certificate? No Problem!Looks at the wide variety of primary and secondary sources that can help to determine when and where a person was born and who were their parents if a birth certificate is not available or can't be found.

Extra! Extra! Read All About Your Ancestors!See the wealth of research information that can be found in newspapers. Learn how to locate some of those little gems with published extracts, online and printed indexes, and online searches.

Didn't Find It in the Index?If you didn't find it in the index it only means that you didn't find it in the index. Looks at examples from Census, Court, printed, and various online indexes, especially online Newspaper sites

Using Maps in Genealogical Researchshows how maps can help to explain records and to find them. Looks at rural: Historical Atlases and Land-ownership maps; & City: especially Sanborn Fire Insurance and Panoramic maps, plus Migration, Topographical, and other maps.

Drilling Down For DNA- Revised 2015Explores various methods to discover distant cousins who's DNA can help solve brick-wall research problems. See how Y-DNA tests and projects can help unchop down my Johnson Family Tree. Also explores Ancestry DNA tests and Gedmatch.com reports and tools.

Real Research on the WebReviews the basic steps of genealogical research using Internet sites that contain images of "real records," indexes, or information about obtaining records. See the results from contacting new cousins and researchers.

They Came On This ShipLooks at passenger lists, immigration records, emigration records, printed indexes and other sources to find the ships that carried your ancestors. Then learn the ship’s history and maybe even find an image of it.

Tools & techniques for reviewing
situations, organizing documents, setting realistic research goals, and creating
documentation to live a life while doing Brick Wall research. Includes three case
studies.

"Genealogy" and "Vacation" are rarely used together. With the Internet, planning, humor, and common sense you can do research and still have a vacation.Tips for visits to courthouses, cemeteries, libraries, and family along with some unusual sources.

Setting goals, Planning, Doing your Homework at Home, and Establishing Contacts will help you have a successful trip where you can meet cousins, see where your ancestors lived, worked, or just spent time. You can learn more about your ancestors and maybe even yourself. Examples include locating the property and an 1861 log cabin in Colorado, meeting cousins while visiting my grandmother’s hometown in Slovenia, and visiting a town in France that my grandfather wrote about in his letters home during World War I.

Genealogy Basics

A Gift That Money Can't Buy!
Encourages everyone to preserve their family's history. Covering: Documenting the basic facts; Identifying important documents to save; Showing the importance of family photographs and how to properly identify everyone; Recording the stories that make your family "Your Family," and then Preserving it all for future generations to enjoy.

Courthouse Research - Where Do I Start?
Reviews Vital Records: Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates, and Indexes. Learn about Jurisdictions and their history. Probate Records: What you might find in wills and probate files and how they can all help you with your research.

Reviews a wide variety of marriage records; records that can identify a spouse and narrow down the date; along with a case study of a couple that traveled to New Orleans in 1890 to get married.

Cemeteries - Look High and Low, Above and Below
because there is often more than meets your eyes. Tips to locate them. See examples of what is above ground. Stresses getting cemetery records to see what is below ground.View photographs of unique tombstones and monuments along with samples of various cemetery records, funeral home records, and obituaries.

Introduction to basic genealogy forms and review a variety of home sources that can be used to begin recording a family history.Forms: Review Ancestor Charts, Family Group Sheets, and Individual Data Sheets Home Sources & Correspondance: Review a variety of home sources including vital record certificates.

A combination lecture and workshop to demonstrate and explain the search conference process. Learn how to: Identify their "customers" and their needs. Develop or review their Mission or Purpose, Review their past and current projects, Identify strenghts, weeaknesses, and opportunites, Act out their vision of the desired future and make plans to get there.